Worcester police officer kills pit bull

A pit bull was shot and killed over the weekend by a city police officer after authorities said the dog bit a woman, then jumped on the responding officer and attacked him.

Police said they were called to the Grafton Street area around noontime Saturday for an animal problem.

The officer, who was not identified, met with a 23-year-old woman who said she was walking toward the rear stairs of her Orient Street apartment when the first-floor tenant opened her door.

“At this time a pit bull ran out from the first-floor apartment,” police said. “The first-floor tenant was unable to stop her dog from running toward the victim. The dog bit the victim on her right side.”

The officer went to the owner's apartment and knocked on the door. A person answering the door told him to go to the back door. As the officer headed toward the back of the house, he saw a large brown pit bull charging at him, police said. The owner, a woman, was several feet behind the dog.

“When the pit bull reached the officer it jumped up and attacked him,” police said in the news release. “The officer yelled at the animal to stop.”

Police said the owner did not give the dog any commands to stop or try to control it.The officer fired one shot into the pit bull. The dog stopped its attack.

The officer was unhurt.

An animal control officer came to the house and brought the dog to an animal rescue league, where it was euthanized. The dog was not licensed, and there were no records of its shots being up to date, according to police.